Posted on 12/22/2002 5:30:04 AM PST by GailA
Frist, healthcare are on rise Expertise is better fit with Bush, GOP
By Ronald Brownstein Los Angeles Times December 22, 2002
WASHINGTON - The emergence of Tennessee Republican Bill Frist as the incoming Senate majority leader marks another milestone in President Bush's efforts to reshape the face of the Republican Party.
Although the White House insisted it did not engineer Frist's rise, or the fall of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott after making racially insensitive comments, one of Frist's principal assets in his sudden ascent was the widespread sense among Republicans that Bush preferred him for the job over Lott.
Frist, whose selection is expected to be finalized Monday, will align the image of Senate Republicans more closely with the White House because he is a better political fit with Bush than Lott.
Like Bush, Frist is conservative on most issues. But while Lott rarely ventured beyond a conventional conservative skepticism toward government, Frist is more in tune with Bush's idea of a reforming conservatism that looks to increase reliance on the private market to achieve social goals, but generally doesn't demonize government.
The change might be most vivid in health care, likely to be a major focus in the coming Congress and the 2004 presidential race. Over the past few years, Frist has been a leader in developing a conservative health care agenda, which has included proposals to use tax credits to cover the uninsured and a plan to fundamentally restructure Medicare.
With the White House embracing those ideas, Frist's rise is likely to give that agenda a new push. As a result, some Republicans think Frist could help the party close the historic Democratic advantage on health care issues much the way Bush's education initiatives - such as the education reform law of 2001 - have narrowed the gap between the parties on that front.
For Democrats, Frist presents a challenge much like House Speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the mild-mannered insider who succeeded former speaker Newt Gingrich, and Bush himself: All present largely conservative policies in a moderate tone much more acceptable to swing voters than the harder-edged voices who dominated the GOP in the immediate aftermath of their 1994 congressional takeover.
(Excerpt) Read more at gomemphis.com ...
Just a gut feeling my FRiend!
He has been passionate in his defense of medical issues, and is a real Dr. of medicine. He has argued passionately in favor of stem cell research and development. I recall no mention of the rights of the donor. (all pro life/choice BS aside)
These two facts, together with the words and actions that I have heard and seen on the floor have indicated to me, at least, that he is a supporter of anything that helps to mitigate human suffering.
There is so much suffering that humans experience throughout their lives. Government should not be given the task of mitigating medically caused suffering, nor should medicine be more than a monetary consideration when it comes to the federal budget.
Frist's passionate defense of stem cell research and other enterprises, makes me believe that these issues will quickly hit the floor of the Senate and take a more important position in the federal budget.
I commend Frist's efforts on behalf of humanity, but I differ with him that government can or should be the arbiter and distribution mechanism for medical treatments and disease eradication.
Government has a role, but not the role of administration of medical services. Government can fund needed research and education, but not the delivery system.
Frist seems to disagree, and seems to advocate a much larger government footprint. Especially regarding AIDS and other communicable diseases.
This opens up government as the primary care provider. We cannot let this happen!
We cannot allow government to assume responsibility for providing medical care.
Frist, in his advocacy of this issue, will eventually make socialized medicine a reality in the United states. He seems to believe that government can make it all better.
This is what I believe he represents, and therefore advocates. He wants to do more through government and is not objective enough on this issue.
We cannot afford the dollar cost of this ideal, nor can we afford to fund anything major, other than research and development.
In my opinion, Frist believes that government should have a much larger role. I get this feeling from observing him over the past two years. He is quite consistent and readable. He will now be in the catbird seat to bring this agenda to the Senate. They will be reluctant to vote against these issues. Any issue that saves even a single human life is difficult to vote against! Trent lott just discovered that voting against a federal holiday for a black man was political suicide. I wonder how the history re-writers will view national free medical care.
Socialized medicine will become the norm as a result. We are simply following the trends in Europe,(they will say) as another mandate is assumed by government.
This time it will not be the fault of States not doing their job. It will be the fault of democrats who failed to hold on to their issue as republicans take it away and institute government controlled national medicine in one signature by Bush and less than one year of debate.
This one single issue w3ill transfer a huge chunk of what little we have left to call our industrial base.
We will be finished as a world leader in any area or any profession. We will be totally de-balled and rendered impotent. Our only claim to fame will be as a consumer of goods and services. We will be no beater than any one else. We will be totally globalized.
We will be the Union of the Socialist United States of America. And, we will be so in debt that nobody will invest. We will be no better tan France. Germany. Italy, or anyone else. The soviets will actually win this war of attrition and China will have us by the nads!
Life here will be no different than anywhere else. Globalization and the eventual "one world government" will be a reality.
I suppose I could just say, screw it, because I will have died and gone beyond when this bull-crap finally comes full circle. The re-writing of our Constitution will have occurred, and government will have assume it's place as the responsible entity for everything but balancing our checkbooks! And, even that will have a pamphlet dedicated to it. After they have disarmed us, and made us see the light, they will have total and un-mitigated control over each and every one of us!
This is why Lott had to go!
He was standing in the way of progress! I may be wrong, but Frist is just too liberal to TAKE lOTTS PLACE AT THE GATE OF REFORM.
While we try to eliminate mistakes, often we do not see the errors until we post.
This is not a way to make friends and infuence people.
Nor a way to make a good arguement.
Few things are more pathetic than posting your own article under your real name, then coming along behind it using your screen name saying, "Great article."
(If the straitjacket fits...)
I do not think that this rating works well in the Senate, where votes are always traded for votes, and nothing is what it is.
Yes, I do view Lott as more protective of the Constitution then Frist. Frists voting patterns will radically change when he assumes the leadership.
Let's revisit this in 2004 and see what happened.
We all have a weakness for firebrands. I miss Lady Thatcher as Prime Minister because she could intellectually destroy any leftist that came her way. However, an alternative route for crushing the left is putting them in a position where they hang themselves with their own crass and unreasonable ways. Frist's selection is an indication that this approach is the one President Bush intends to take. So far, he's had good success with it.
Regards, Ivan
At any rate, we all make the occaisional spelling or typographical error, and I'm certainly not immune (my personal curse is my hunt-and-peck method of typing, coupled with my habit of hitting the keys HARD, like I was trying to drive nails with my fingertips). However, some people's posts are so consistently poor, so constantly in the same errors, that they indicate a deeper ignorance, or at least a complete lack of thinking before posting.
I simply point this out so that others can make the appropriate judgement about their overall credibility.
Note that it seems that the ones I pointed out were the precise ones willing to jump to ANY conclusion at all, absent any concrete proof, to condemn Frist. There WOULD, therefore, appear to be a relationship there, somewhere.
BTW, I'm not trying to make friends. Actually, I'm really not that much of a nice person.
If we do not, and spending goes out of control in the name of bi-partisanship and winning the 2004 election, we will be no better that the rats.
Lott did in-fact, do a piss poor job of holding the spending of the non-existent surplus down. I believe the view at the time was to blow it all before the rats expanded the permanent social programs to a stellar magnitude. I was particularly disappointed with the farm bill.
The divisive politic are going to be rough next year. The rats are going to throw everything they have at us. We must be firm and not yield to emotional bribery. This destruction of Lott has not been a good omen. I am very concerned about the party.
Merry Christmas, by the way. I hope that you and yours enjoy a happy holiday.
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